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Escalating demands on urban water sources present a formidable challenge to practitioners in environmental and social change to more effectively promote water conservation strategies. This study was based on pilot project learnings and aimed to determine whether a sign displaying weekly local rainfall data and turfgrass water needs could effectively influence a Florida (USA) community's water conservation. Three core data sources/methods were used: pre- and post-surveys, water utility data compared between treatment and control communities, and qualitative post-intervention feedback. The findings illustrate nuanced outcomes including the adoption of the rainfall sign as a central information source and some knowledge increases, contrasted with decreased engagement in the target conservation practice, no significant changes in water usage, and unfavorable perceptions of project approaches. Successes and failures of this pilot can guide professionals leading future residential conservation initiatives, which should better engage the target community and incorporate their ideas and needs into the project design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980's, the growing involvement of private consultancy firms in the public sector worldwide has instigated concerns about the outsourcing of public policy advising to market-driven actors. Although these firms participate in spreading policy ideas, their roles have not received sustained attention, despite being observed by a few scholars. Against this background, the aim of this paper is threefold. First, from established policy concepts relating to policy diffusion, we identify the potential roles that consultancy firms may take on in spreading policy ideas. Second, we use a systematic literature review to collect and distil what is currently known about what different roles consultancy firms fulfil, and what kinds of tensions arise in their interactions with both clients and other actors. Third, we draft an agenda for future research on consultancy firms' impact in governance processes. To focus our study, our review hones in on environmental governance, more specifically water governance, a significant area of activity for such firms where they play an important in-between role in providing policy ideas. We found indications that consultancy firms possess six types of capabilities (trusted facilitators, reactors to environmental policies, shapers of environmental policies, market drivers, interest navigators, and managers of public participation), and face various dilemmas around biases, decontextualized global practices, market interests, and manipulative practices. We conclude that more attention should be given to empirically refining capabilities involved in shaping policies and markets and to further highlighting how consultancy firms impact the diffusion of governance ideas in and beyond the water and environmental sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indicators are important tools for tracking the socio‐environmental impacts of droughts and building resilience to climate change. We begin with an overview of metrics used for water planning and drought management, with particular emphasis on the UK. We explain how considerations of cost, immediacy, access, consistency, relevance, reliability and others denote the suitability of information for developing new indicators. We then demonstrate the potential of Google Trends (GT) online search data as drought indicators for England and Ireland. We show that search terms such as 'drought', 'water butt' and 'hosepipe ban' correlate significantly with conventional hydroclimatic data as well as with newspaper reports of various drought impacts during the period 2011–2022. GT data also show evidence of rising interest in water saving technologies, especially for outdoor water use. Meanwhile, online searches for 'Defra' and 'Environment Agency' have declined and are more often associated with flood episodes than droughts. Interest in water companies in England is more likely around hosepipe bans than water leakage (although this varies by company). We discuss the implications of these findings for targeting information campaigns, plus prospects for monitoring drought impacts and public sentiment in near real‐time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Open Space Institute, and the Orange County Water Authority (OCWA) have announced the protection of 83 acres of land near Browns Pond to safeguard the water source for over 29,000 residents in the City of Newburgh. The land acquisition will help mitigate stormwater runoff and prevent potential contaminants from entering drinking water sources. In another article, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has allocated $4.9 million in funding to improve drought monitoring and prediction in the American West. This research aims to enhance decision-making and preparedness for drought conditions in the region. Lastly, a study from Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden reveals that psychological factors, such as disgust sensitivity, can hinder environmentally friendly laundry habits. Understanding the underlying mechanisms behind excessive laundering can help develop effective strategies to reduce climate impact. [Extracted from the article]

Key Takeaways: US Southwest cities can benefit from innovative conservation approaches to further reduce water demand amid rising population growth and drought driven by climate change. To ensure a resilient water supply, Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority has successfully used adaptive strategies for 30 years to improve consumptive‐use efficiency. The Water Authority's partnership with the city's Parks Department takes a holistic water management approach to meet water supply needs while promoting responsible usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how the laboratory is integral with the success of plant operations is key for operators to improve treatment processes and expand their knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water utilities are facing significant challenges, such as supplying, with less water resources, more and more water due to population growth, amid the current scenario of climate change. In this context, urban water systems represent a crucial component of global public infrastructure for water utilities, with municipalities entrusted with the responsibility of managing and enhancing them for both current and future generations. The main challenge arises when these infrastructures inevitably age and deteriorate, significantly increasing water losses. Since it is unrealistic and unnecessary to rehabilitate and/or replace all pipes in an existing water distribution system, this manuscript is focused on identifying the independent key parameters which can be used to detect reinforced concrete pipe deterioration. To this end, the variables that affect mechanical properties are narrowed down, and the most significant factors crucial for pipe failure are identified. In this process, reinforced concrete pipe samples were collected to characterize them based on a set of potential key parameters. All potential key parameters were analyzed, with the objectives of identifying which key parameters were significant for the model and determining the interactions among them. All data were stored in a dataset which was used to generate a predictive model to estimate average concrete strength and pipe condition assessment versus independent key parameters. The predictive model, utilizing a design of experiments (DoE) and based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA), could estimate the average concrete strength with an accuracy of around 90%, and the external porosity was found to be the main factor. On the other hand, it was also possible to estimate a range of porosity values for the purpose of maintaining the reinforced concrete pipe in optimal condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, scale deposition in water supply pipelines is one of the major problems faced by water utilities. This research aimed to determine the causes and effects of scale deposition in the water supply pipelines in Surakarta City, Indonesia. The total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness, manganese, and alkalinity in groundwater were higher than those in the surface water and spring water; thus, the supply areas from groundwater were identified using TDS at the taps. The three scaling indicators, i.e., the Langelier saturation index (LSI), the Ryznar stability index (RSI), and the Puckorius scaling index (PSI), indicated moderate calcium carbonate scaling. However, elemental analysis of eight scale samples using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) revealed that the major components of scale were either manganese (50.1–80.8%) or iron (45.6–63.8%), whereas calcium (3.0–7.8%) was a minor component. Because only five of twenty groundwater sources were chlorinated before distribution, it is estimated that dissolved manganese is oxidized by manganese-oxidizing bacteria. The manganese deposition rate in the networks was estimated to be 1660 kg/year using the manganese concentration at groundwater sources and in customers' taps. These results suggest the importance of the elemental analysis of scale and avoidance of overreliance on scale indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical importance of water makes it an indispensable natural resource. In context of urban infrastructure, particularly in the developing world, supplying water to urban households poses a notable challenge. Optimizing water supply systems (WSS) is one of the most arduous challenges in addressing this issue, primary contributors being energy and water losses during supply process. This paper focuses on the method adopted for minimizing losses in WSSs and creating a self-sustainable model for water supply in the urban settlement of Dehradun, India. The solution entails deployment of Energy Savings Companies (ESCO) service delivery model and the utilization of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. This approach, thus far has yielded saving in both revenue, energy and water consumption at source, potentially generating saving that would enable covering the operational and maintenance changes for the established system for around 10 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In tropical African cities where the water utility has developed groundwater, the public supply usually offers a better service at lower cost, as this resource is more climate change-resilient and allows phased capital investment. Among the more affluent, private waterwells are increasingly used with numerous consequences. Accessing groundwater is generally beyond the financial reach of the urban poor. The way forward must be to integrate utility and private investments and piped and non-piped solutions. To facilitate this, greater 'water resource awareness' by water utilities, and partnership with resource regulators and knowledge centres (together modifications to their mandate), will be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of urban water supply systems and public services is globally recognized. Nonrevenue water directly affects a water utility's economic, financial, and environmental sustainability. In Portugal, the mean of the nonrevenue water for the distribution systems corresponded to 28.8% in 2019. Smart metering technology is crucial for consumption monitoring and enhancing apparent and real loss network management (e.g., water meters' global error evaluation, detection of illegal uses, and real loss estimation through the minimum night flow analysis). However, this technology is expensive in acquisition, installation, operation, and maintenance. This study aims to support water utilities in inferring the total consumption using a representative sample of customers with smart meters instead of smart metering data from all customers. A stratified sampling was considered using only the customers' billing time series for the strata definition. A predominantly domestic zone was used, and eight strata were obtained with a clustering analysis [temporal correlation (CORT) dissimilarity and Ward method]. Stratified sampling was applied to minimize the variance of the total water consumption estimator. A representative sample of 259 dimensions (53%) was chosen to infer, with small errors, essential consumption statistics for water utilities: total consumption (with an error of 0.12%), total consumption time series, water consumption patterns, minimum night consumption, and volume distribution by the flow rate. The successful outcomes obtained were crucial in supporting the proposed methodology. This study has provided evidence that installing smart meters for all consumers in a distribution network area is not necessary to acquire accurate and meaningful consumption information crucial for effective network management and water loss control. Moreover, using only billing data to perform the sample selection of consumers is useful for water utilities, because they may face difficulties obtaining extra consumer information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maximizing the net economic benefits of leak management programs provides the most value to water utilities and their customers. Leak management programs with alternative objectives (e.g., to "break even" or to maximize leak reduction) are not necessarily the most efficient use of resources. Combining hydraulic modeling with principles of economics and using a real distribution system to provide a case study, we present a methodology for maximizing the net economic benefits of a leak management program consisting of leak detection and repair activities and pressure management interventions. The optimization results include recommended leak detection and repair intervals for individual district metered areas, optimal siting of both pressure reducing valves and pumps-as-turbines (PATs), and modifications to the distribution system's connectivity to isolate high-pressure areas. The case study results indicate that 10% to 11% of the system's current energy use can be recovered by PATs and that the avoided leakage over the study period is equivalent to 13% to 23% of the system's current customer demand. While leak detection and repair and pressure management are more commonly considered independently, this analysis demonstrates the feasibility of including their interdependencies when optimizing a leak management program, resulting in more useful recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban drinking water systems in the US face diverse challenges and stressors, threatening their ability to reliably provide safe, affordable drinking water. To effectively address these challenges, utilities must understand the complex relationships among the community, biophysical, infrastructural, and institutional attributes of their system and how they impact overall system performance. In this study, we conduct a comparative case study analysis of 16 large-scale US urban drinking water systems to identify underlying conditions associated with the provision of both affordable and high-quality drinking water. Using qualitative comparative analysis and nonnegative matrix factorization to analyze clusters of conditions related to diverse system attributes, we find that community attributes, including moderate population growth and low poverty, play a significant role in shaping affordability and quality (AQ) outcomes. Moreover, there is an association between biophysical challenges and the development of robust institutional and infrastructural attributes. Cities confronted by marked biophysical challenges seem to be at the forefront in fostering adaptive institutional frameworks and proactive infrastructural measures. Concurrently, our study reveals that a water utility's commitment to conservation measures also impacts its performance in provision of affordable and high quality water. The study improves our understanding of the relationships between various attributes affecting the provision of affordable and high-quality urban drinking water. This can aid utilities in identifying pathways to ensure adequate service under increasing stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A probabilistic approach that considers the entire lifecycle cost of the water pipeline, accounting for deterioration rate, failure consequences, cost of rehabilitation, accuracy and cost of inspection/condition assessment, cost of emergency repair versus planned intervention and cost of total pipe replacement was introduced in an earlier paper. The approach allows us to combine expert-opinion (semi-informative assessment) with hard field data. New hard field data (e.g., failure events, inspection/condition assessment results) continually become available throughout the life of the pipeline. This incoming data stream can be incorporated into the analysis to provide robust, well-informed and reproducible assessment of deterioration rate and remaining life. The framework was implemented in an MS-Excel-based decision support tool, referred to as pipeline inspection decision analyzer (PIDA). This paper demonstrates the practical application of the proposed framework in the real world through comprehensive case studies, data for which were obtained from collaborating Canadian and US water utilities and pipeline owners. As is always the case in reality, most pipeline owners did not have all the required data to carry out a fully informed analysis. We illustrate how one might deal with missing data, how PIDA may be used to arrive at well-supported, rational decisions on when to deploy inspection and condition assessment, what techniques/technologies to select among competing ones and when it is time to stop assessing the pipeline condition and plan for replacement. Sensitivity analyses are also conducted to explore how various assumptions, necessitated by uncertainty, may impact analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the concept of resilience is becoming a criterion in planning, water utilities are seeking support and practical guidance to enhance their conventional risk-based planning processes. This paper presents a resilience framework for urban water supply systems planning during the transition towards integrated water resources management. Based on a synthesis of literature across engineering, ecological and social sciences, resilient system performance is defined using crossings of fail-safe and safe-fail thresholds as key indicators. System performance curves conceptually illustrate the capabilities withstanding, absorptive, restorative, adaptive, transformative, and anticipative (WARATA), during sudden and gradual disruptions. Sustainability goals are explicitly considered in the resilience framework, and the role of transformative and anticipative capabilities to facilitate transitions is discussed. Specifically, the desirability of physical design and predicted community consequences from performance impact and collapse can be used in resilience management to prioritize between fail-safe and safe-fail system capacities. Finally, key considerations for operationalizing the framework are summarized, including how issues related to social justice can be addressed when simulating performance and deriving metrics. While this paper focuses on urban water supply, the framework could be applied to other service-providing infrastructure where resilience-based planning supported by quantitative evidence is required to inform investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of climate change, it becomes crucial to motivate action and policies within water companies towards achieving carbon neutrality. Estimating the economic consequences of inaction can be a compelling catalyst for change. In this study, the carbon inefficiency and overuse of energy among a selection of English and Welsh water companies were assessed, along with their impact on the operational costs of producing and delivering drinking water over the period from 2010 to 2019. In doing so, a stochastic frontier analysis primal system was employed. The findings revealed that, on average, water companies exhibited a carbon inefficiency of 0.699. The overuse of energy relative to other inputs was estimated to be 71.4%. Consequently, water companies incurred a production cost increase of 0.089 £/m3. This research demonstrates that transitioning towards a low‐carbon urban water cycle is not merely an environmental beneficial endeavor; it also involves significant economic advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water utilities are concerned about the issue of pipeline collapses, as service interruptions lead to water shortages. Pipeline collapses can occur during the maintenance phase when water columns compress entrapped air pockets, consequently increasing the pressure head. Analysing entrapped air pockets is complex due to the necessity of numerically solving a system of differential equations. Currently, water utilities need more tools to perform this analysis effectively. This research provides a numerical solution to the problem of entrapped air pockets in pipelines which can be utilised to predict filling operations. The study develops an analytical solution to examine the filling process. A practical application is shown, considering a 600 m long pipeline with an internal diameter of 400 mm. Compared with existing mathematical models, the results of the new analytical equations demonstrate their effectiveness as a new tool for computing the main hydraulic and thermodynamic variables involved in this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to demonstrate that the Data Envelopment Analysis method can be employed to evaluate the operational efficiency of public utility enterprises under state ownership or local government jurisdiction, such as cities and municipalities. These enterprises are tasked with delivering high-quality public services to citizens at affordable prices. Achieving this goal necessitates efficient management and judicious use of public resources. The research evaluated the efficiency of public water utility enterprises in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina using the Data Envelopment Analysis method. Three indicators were used as inputs in the model: asset value, number of employees, and total expenses. The output indicator was total revenue, which reflects the number of users under relatively uniform service tariffs. The findings reveal that 92.31% of these public utilities exhibit technical efficiency levels above 90%. Additionally, 53.85% demonstrate 100% technical efficiency in input utilisation. The results highlight enterprises that inefficiently use assets incur above-average costs or employ more workers than necessary. The study concludes that the Data Envelopment Analysis model effectively identifies state-owned public utility enterprises that consume above-average resources to deliver the same scope and quality of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting in 38 public water companies owned by local municipalities from Andalusia. With an adapted measure integrated by 172 indicators drawn from national and international standards, results show a low level and quality of ESG disclosure. Along with the positive relationship with size and cultural orientation towards transparency, the hybrid nature of public companies is directly related to their ESG disclosure activity. Unlike what could happen in other sectors, the presence of private capital in the shareholding provides water companies with experienced knowledge to better report financial and non-financial information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) is a US Environmental Protection Agency finance program that has gained bipartisan support over its decade of existence. WIFIA is designed to accelerate nationally or regionally significant infrastructure projects by providing low‐interest loans for water projects. Loan amounts vary across project types, but not among project types per capita. Generally, stormwater and drinking water project types have lower loan amounts, while wastewater and reuse project types have a wider range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: Setting water rates that are both sustainable and predictable can be challenging for water utilities coping with infrastructure renewal, inflation, and other challenges. Although most utilities conduct master planning efforts, the planning horizon is often too short, and the results are not fully integrated with long‐term financial planning. Without integrated planning efforts and an adequate planning horizon, sustainable and predictable rates cannot be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintenance-Renewal Works (MRWs) are among the most complicated planning operations of water companies and usually involve a group of experts. However, experts are often hesitant in their decision making as they often need to rely on unreliable quantitative operational data, which prompts doubts about the effectiveness of their decisions. This problem can be addressed by using linguistic (qualitative) values instead of imprecise numerical data. Hence, this study develops a qualitative-risk-based model to plan the MRW of six Iranian networks comprising pipes with unreliable operational data. The study also investigates the effectiveness of group decisions on planning pipe MRW. The results indicate that planning with imprecise numerical operational data can be improved by using a qualitative-risk-based model. Additionally, it is found that group decisions do not significantly change the pipe priorities, although they have a decisive effect on determining the pipe maintenance-renewal strategies. Furthermore, increasing the number of criteria is found to lead to more accurate results within the developed model, although increasing the number of decision-makers has no decisive effect on the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pipe leakage in water distribution networks (WDNs) has been an emerging concern for water utilities worldwide due to its public health and economic significance. Not only does it cause significant water losses, but it also deteriorates the quality of the treated water in WDNs. Hence, a prompt response is required to avoid or minimize the eventual consequences. This raises the necessity of exploring the possible approaches for detecting and locating leaks in WDNs promptly. Currently, various leak detection methods exist, but they are not accurate and reliable in detecting leaks. This paper presents a novel GIS-based spatial machine learning technique that utilizes currently installed pressure, flow, and water quality monitoring sensors in WDNs, specifically employing the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) and Local Outlier Factor (LOF) models, based on a WDN dataset provided by our partner utility authority. In addition to its ability as a regression model for predicting a dependent variable based on input variables, GWR was selected to help identify locations on the WDN where coefficients deviate the most from the overall coefficients. To corroborate the GWR results, the Local Outlier Factor (LOF) is used as an unsupervised machine learning model to predict leak locations based on spatial local density, where locality is given by k-nearest neighbours. The sample WDN dataset provided by our utility partner was split into 70:30 for training and testing of the GWR model. The GWR model was able to predict leaks (detection and location) with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.909. The LOF model was able to predict the leaks with a matching of 80% with the GWR results. Then, a customized GIS interface was developed to automate the detection process in real-time as the sensor's readings were recorded and spatial machine learning was used to process the readings. The results obtained demonstrate the ability of the proposed method to robustly detect and locate leaks in WDNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piped drinking water supplies are exposed to a range of threats. Changing hazard situations arise from climate change, digitisation, and changing conditions in the power supply, among other things. Risk and crisis management adapted to the hazard situation can increase the resilience of the piped drinking water supply. Analogous to the risk management system, this article describes a methodology that ranges from hazard analysis with the prioritisation of 57 individual hazards to vulnerability assessment with the help of balance sheet structure models (BSM) and the planning and implementation of measures to increase the resilience of the piped drinking water supply in a targeted manner. The work steps mentioned build on each other and were tested using the case study of a water supply company in Saxony (Germany). As a result, priority hazards are identified, the remaining supply periods and replacement and emergency water requirements are determined as part of the vulnerability assessment, and finally, planning principles for increasing resilience are documented. The methodology focuses primarily on practicable application by water supply companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) and associated premise plumbing (PP) systems are vulnerable to proliferation of opportunistic pathogens, even when chemical disinfection residuals are present, thus presenting a public health risk. Monitoring the structure of microbial communities of drinking water is challenging because of limited continuous access to faucets, pipes, and storage tanks. We propose a scalable household sampling method, which uses spent activated carbon and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane point-of-use (POU) filters to evaluate mid- to long-term occurrence of microorganisms in PP systems that are relevant to consumer exposure. As a proof of concept, POU filter microbiomes were collected from four different locations and analyzed with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The analyses revealed distinct microbial communities, with occasional detection of potential pathogens. The findings highlight the importance of local, and if possible, continuous monitoring within and across distribution systems. The continuous operation of POU filters offers an advantage in capturing species that may be missed by instantaneous sampling methods. We suggest that water utilities, public institutions, and regulatory agencies take advantage of end-of-life POU filters for microbial monitoring. This approach can be easily implemented to ensure drinking water safety, especially from microbes of emerging concerns; e.g., pathogenic Legionella and Mycobacterium species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistical water main failure models that improve our understanding of main breaks may help water utilities allocate resources more efficiently. A variety of statistical models have been developed, but few actively seek to replicate empirical main break behavior. Furthermore, the prevailing conceptual model of how failure risk changes over the lifetime of a water main, which includes self-excitation, is based on limited empirical evidence. We investigate self-excitation and pipe aging behavior using data describing a large cohort of water mains, present a statistical model that includes self-excitation, and compare the performance of several published models both with and without self-excitation. The failure data suggest that temporal clustering is occurring, which may be caused by self-excitation; however, the modeling results suggest that including self-excitation in failure models may not be worth the additional required resources. Researchers and practitioners should investigate their data and assess their specific goals and available resources to determine which modeling approach is most appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The waters of the Nile River offer salvation amid the deserts of Northeast Africa, as well as competition and division between the rival states that share its basin. Ethiopia is nearing completion on the building and filling of the massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam at the source of the Blue Nile in the Ethiopian highlands. The downstream states of Egypt and Sudan believe that the building of this dam jeopardizes their Nile water allocations and violates colonial-era treaties. Interpretation of three of these colonial-era water-sharing treaties lies at the center of the debates. Egypt and Sudan must recognize that treaties not signed by Ethiopia cannot be extrapolated as binding upon it, while Ethiopia must recognize that the one of the three treaties it did sign is still binding. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam offers revolutionary energy and economic production, not only for Ethiopia, but also for the entire region. However, the three states must respect the historical rights of their neighbors’ peoples to the Nile’s waters. They must learn from other successful interstate water and energy sharing deals to actually seize the production in a cooperative way that betters the lives of all three states’ citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study excavates the experts, ideas and methods behind the earliest water utility performance benchmarking efforts initiated in the 1990s using archive materials and secondary sources. The results contend that benchmarking is public sector reform by other means. Quantification allows performance benchmarking to escape the scrutiny and controversy that follows market-led reform, even though both privilege economic efficiency at the expense of distributional equity. Benchmarking experts advance economisation, a process that, through economic reasoning, metrics and quantitative comparisons, transforms water utilities into calculative Pareto-maximising entities that privilege existing consumers to the detriment of the unserved. Economisation is not inevitable, however. Heterodox experts can choose different benchmarking methods to advance alternative values. Two professors in India, for instance, introduced explicitly equity-focused indicators into the country’s water utility benchmarking system, challenging the prevailing orthodoxy. Nonetheless, while fairer benchmarking systems have the potential to reduce resource inequities, they also risk domesticating power relations.

McCallah Ferry, a University of Akron researcher, conducted a study on granular activated carbon (GAC) filters to determine if removing PFAS from water is possible. The research confirms that GAC [...]

This study aims to find out the influence of organizational culture, career development development, and selfefficacy on employee performance. The population in this study is all employees of the Tirta Darma Ayu Indramayu Regional Drinking Water Company (PDAM) which totals 146 people, with a sample of 110 people. The method used in this study uses one of the saturated sampling techniques. To analyze the data, the use of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in model creation as well as hypothesis testing in PLS 3.0 statistical software. The two main parameters built are to test the validity of the construct (convergent and discriminatory validity) and the internal consistency of the construct (reliability). After that, perform bootstrapping tests to get the test results for each hypothesis. The results of this study show that the Selfefficacy Variable (X1) partially has a positive or significant effect on the performance of employees (Y) at the Indramayu Regional Drinking Water Company. The Organizational Culture Variable (X2) partially has a positive or significant effect on the performance of employees (Y) at the Indramayu Regional Drinking Water Company The Career Development Variable (X3) partially has a positive or significant effect on the performance of employees (Y) at the Indramayu Regional Drinking Water Company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterized concentrations of trihalomethanes (THMs), a measure of disinfection byproducts (DBPs), in tap water samples collected from households with utility-supplied water in two rural counties in Appalachian Virginia, and assessed associations with pH, free chlorine, and metal ions which can impact THM formation. Free chlorine concentrations in all samples (n = 27 homes) complied with EPA drinking water guidelines, though 7% (n = 2) of first draw samples and 11% (n = 3) of 5-min flushed-tap water samples exceeded the US Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) for THM (80 ppb). Regression analyses showed that free chlorine and pH were positively associated with the formation of THM levels above SDWA MCLs (OR = 1.04, p = 0.97 and OR = 1.74, p = 0.79, respectively), while temperature was negatively associated (OR = 0.78, p = 0.38). Of the eight utilities serving study households, samples from water served by three different utilities exceeded the EPA MCL for THM. Overall, these findings do not indicate substantial exposures to DBPs for rural households with utility- supplied water in this region of southwest Virginia. However, given the observed variability in THM concentrations between and across utilities, and established adverse health impacts associated with chronic and acute DBP exposure, more research on DBPs in rural Central Appalachia is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand-side management (DSM) programs are essential to accommodate larger shares of distributed, variable, renewable energy generation. These programs can be used by water utilities to foster a more sustainable operational management. In this work, an integrated DSM strategy is adopted for the optimal control of pumping loads to reduce energy costs in a water supply system (WSS). For this purpose, the participation in demand response programs, namely, using time-of-use (TOU) and real-time pricing (RTP), as well as on-site renewable energy generation, are explored. A gradient-based method was used to optimize the pump scheduling based on a nonlinear programming model integrating hydraulic simulation with optimization tools. The main original contribution of this work is the development of a thorough optimization model integrating available supply and demand energy resources into WSS operational management, as well as presenting a novel approach to formulate the pump operation problem. The Anytown WSS benchmark is used to validate the proposed model. The results show a decrease of 11%–52% in the cost of WSS operation when considering an integrated optimization of the available energy resources in a time-differentiated tariffs context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A selective, facile, and highly efficient spectrophotometric approach was established for the determination of 1,4-dioxane in drinking water quantitatively. This approach depends on the reaction selectively of 1,4-dioxane with 1-Amino-2-naphthol-4-sulphonic acid (AHSA) to give an instantly complex measured at 340 nm. The maximum spectra development with high intensity of dioxane-AHSA complex was obtained at 15 min. Variable parameters that affecting the dioxane-AHSA efficacy were estimated and optimised. Under optimal conditions, the dioxane-AHSA complex obeyed Beer's law within the range of 0.5–15 mg/L of 1,4-dioxane with a regression factor of 0.996 (n = 5) and a detection limit of 16 µg/L. The results of precision and accuracy within-day were ≤2.0% in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD%), which confirmed the reproducibility of the analytical performance. The proposed method was applied successfully in the simultaneous assessment of 1,4-dioxane in an aqueous solution. The accuracy and reliability of the developed approach recommended being applied in all quality control of water companies without the use of sophisticated instrumentation and procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how budgeting operational costs and cost control affect the financial performance of PDAM. Industry of clean water that will be distributed to the community, good performance is needed. This performance assessment is useful for information in making decisions. This study uses a quantitative method, by distributing questionnaires to 45 employees from 3 PDAM companies, this study also uses linear regression analysis with the help of the SPSS application. Based on the results of the respondents' answers, it can be concluded that the operating cost budget has no impact on financial performance. However, what does have an impact on financial performance is cost control. Cost control allows the PDAM to improve service quality, and has a positive impact on long-term financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study excavates the experts, ideas and methods behind the earliest water utility performance benchmarking efforts initiated in the 1990s using archive materials and secondary sources. The results contend that benchmarking is public sector reform by other means. Quantification allows performance benchmarking to escape the scrutiny and controversy that follows market-led reform, even though both privilege economic efficiency at the expense of distributional equity. Benchmarking experts advance economisation, a process that, through economic reasoning, metrics and quantitative comparisons, transforms water utilities into calculative Pareto-maximising entities that privilege existing consumers to the detriment of the unserved. Economisation is not inevitable, however. Heterodox experts can choose different benchmarking methods to advance alternative values. Two professors in India, for instance, introduced explicitly equity-focused indicators into the country’s water utility benchmarking system, challenging the prevailing orthodoxy. Nonetheless, while fairer benchmarking systems have the potential to reduce resource inequities, they also risk domesticating power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water losses in water distribution systems are typically analysed using extended period simulations, where its numerical resolution is commonly achieved using the gradient method. These models assume that adjustments to regulating valves occur, either manually or automatically, over an extended period of time, then the system inertia can be neglected. This research introduces the development of a rigid water column model for analysing water leakages in single pipelines, which can be employed to account for regulation valve adjustments in shorter time periods, thereby providing greater accuracy when assessing water losses. The application to a case study is presented to analyse pressure variations and leakage flow patterns over 30, 60, and 180 s. A comparison between the extended period simulation and rigid water column model is presented in order to note the order of magnitude on leakages when the system inertia is not considered. The results confirm that is crucial for water utilities the consideration of inertial system to simulate adequately opening and closure manoeuvres in water distribution systems, since according to the case study the extended period simulation can overestimated or underestimated the total leakage volume in percentages of 37.1 and 55.2 % , respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal water utilities across the United States establish their own rate structures to cover operations, maintenance, depreciation, and outstanding debt repayment. Yet, little is known about how rates are determined to ensure equity and/or affordability. To identify sources of variation in residential drinking water rates, we examine municipalities in northeastern Illinois, 2015–2019. Controlling for water utility characteristics, billing structures, financial management, service quality, and demographic/socioeconomic factors, we find no statistically significant correlations between water rates and median household income or race when nonrevenue water from leaking infrastructure is considered, revealing relative racial equity in water pricing within these communities. A larger water distribution network, more water included in the base charge, and a greater number of months in the billing cycle are all associated with lower rates. Purchasing water through an individual or cooperative agreement, a greater proportion of nonrevenue water from leaking infrastructure, a higher minimum monthly base charge, and more revenue debt outstanding (while controlling for nonrevenue water) are all associated with higher rates. We also find a positive correlation between municipal sewer rates and drinking water rates that supports findings from prior research. Overall, our research aids in the development of public policy that ensures all households have access to affordable and safe drinking water to promote water equity and public health. Key Takeaways: Our study reveals relative racial equity in municipal drinking water pricing among northeastern Illinois communities, and that rate differentials are more attributable to the state of infrastructure in the supply network.A cooperative purchasing strategy in the wholesale market is associated with slightly lower rates relative to an individualistic approach to purchasing, which highlights a potential benefit of cooperative purchasing as the ability of members to share capital costs for supply infrastructure.The balancing act between affordability and cost recovery in drinking water rate setting will continue to be an important political and policy issue as climate change impacts utilities' access to drinking water sources.In addition to understanding the drivers behind water costs, it is also important to examine how this information is communicated to consumers to gain insight into the transparency around the cost of providing clean drinking water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water utilities are like arteries for the urban environment and, in order to satisfy water demand, extensive design and operation work applying modeling tools is required. An effective tool can be operated but only if the input, such as real-world consumption data, is built into the system. This study aims to present a GIS-based technique to align the consumption data to a simplified network topology. This study investigates four distinct methods, revealing noteworthy outcomes. The geocoding of consumption locations facilitates their seamless integration with model nodes through geospatial methods. Additionally, effective water consumption allocation is achieved by delineating influence ranges around each node. When comparing the zoning based on the street approach and the arithmetic average with the benchmark manual range of influence approach, substantial errors appear of approximately 190% and 230%, respectively. Addressing the impracticality of the manual method, especially for larger networks, this study advocates for the use of Thiessen polygons to delineate influence areas. In conclusion, this study presents a holistic approach to aligning consumption data with simplified network topologies for enhanced water utility modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study deals with the prediction of recurring failures in water supply networks, a complex and costly task, but essential for the effective maintenance of these vital infrastructures. Using historical failure data provided by Companhia de Água e Esgotos da Paraíba (CAGEPA), the research focuses on predicting the time until the next failure at specific points in the network. The authors divided the failures into two categories: Occurrences of New Faults (ONFs) and Recurrences of Faults (RFs). To perform the predictions, they used predictive models based on machine learning, more specifically on MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) neural networks. The investigation unveiled that through the analysis of historical failure data and the consideration of variables including altitude, number of failures on the same street, and days between failures, it is possible to achieve an accuracy greater than 80% in predicting failures within a 90-day interval. This demonstrates the feasibility of using fault history to predict future water supply outages with significant accuracy. These forecasts allow water utilities to plan and optimize their maintenance, minimizing inconvenience and losses. The article contributes significantly to the field of water infrastructure management by proposing the applicability of a data-driven approach in diverse urban settings and across various types of infrastructure networks, including those pertaining to energy or communication. These conclusions underscore the paramount importance of systematic data collection and analysis in both averting failures and optimizing the allocation of resources within water utilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The condition assessment of water distribution pipes is of utmost importance for the prioritization of rehabilitation interventions. However, the application of available methodologies for condition assessment by water utilities with limited human, technological and financial resources is becoming increasingly complex. The current paper aims at the development and application of a methodology for the prediction of the physical condition of water distribution pipes without the need for visual inspection. The methodology includes the development and application of three different algorithms (heuristic, linear regression and support vector regression). The methodology is applied to a water distribution network located in the Algarve region, Portugal. The results obtained from each algorithm are compared with a well-known performance indicator, the ratio of useful life, and present significant differences in its overall pipe condition classification. Results have demonstrated the following: the ratio of useful life tends to distribute pipe classification more equally in the three classes (i.e., good, average and unsatisfactory); the heuristic algorithm classifies most pipes as average condition; and the linear regression algorithm classifies with unsatisfactory conditions. The support vector regression algorithm stands out as the main classifier for identifying pipes in good condition when compared to other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water demand management adopts economic and non-economic measures to reduce human water use. However, it is argued in this study that water use changes may cause idle water supply facilities and revenue losses, thereby challenging the sustainability of water supply systems in the context of climate change. A co-governance framework was established to inspire practical strategies of sustaining water supply systems by re-evaluating the long-term impacts of water demand changes. This framework adopts a broader view of water demand management by integrating the political, financial, and consumptive needs of the government, the market, and the users in the form of a collaborative strategy coupling both supply-side and demand-side solutions. The proposed framework was applied to the analysis of the sustainability of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project. It is found that the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is not a simple water supply infrastructure but rather a synthesis of supply-side and demand-side water management solutions. Actively releasing water for ecological and cultural purposes is suggested in this study to maintain the socio-ecological benefits of the project in the context of human water use decline. The economic cost of the water supply could be recovered by ongoing revenues that include not only the water fees charged to users but also the benefits gained from cooperative investment in broader water-related businesses by both the state-owned water transfer company and local governments in water-receiving areas. The proposed framework and strategies are valuable for other water utilities around the world, especially those challenged by reduced water demand caused by climate change, high water prices, and economic depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing pressure management to reduce water leakage in water distribution systems (WDSs) is one of the major tasks for water utilities. By regulating the operation of pressure reducing valves (PRVs) installed in WDSs, the pressure in WDSs can be kept under control and thus the water leakage amount can be decreased. Mathematically, the problem of pressure management to water leakage reduction can be formulated as a nonlinear optimization program. To make the optimization model proper for practice, the model of PRVs should be accurate and can describe all its operation modes in practice: active, fully opened, and check valve modes. In the literature, the model can be represented either by a non-smooth equation with low accuracy or by several complicated constraints. This research developed a highly accurate PRV model based on vanishing constraints. The idea comes from the fact that the model equation representing operations of PRVs in active mode will be vanished as PRVs operate in the check valve mode. The formulated mathematical program with vanishing constraints (MPVCs) can be solved efficiently by using the regularization approach. Several WDSs have evaluated the new PRV model which shows that accurate solutions are obtained with less computation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) equipped with integrated sensors are a tool valuable to several monitoring strategies, offering enhanced temporal and spatial coverage over specific timeframes, allowing for targeted examination of sites or events of interest. The elaboration of environmental monitoring programs has relied so far on periodic spot sampling at specific locations, followed by laboratory analysis, aiming at the evaluation of water quality at a catchment scale. For this purpose, automatic telemetric stations for specific parameters have been installed by the Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters of Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (IMBRIW-HCMR) within several Greek rivers and lakes, providing continuous and temporal monitoring possibilities. In the present work, USVs were deployed by the Athens Water and Sewerage Company (EYDAP) as a cost-effective tool for the environmental monitoring of surface water bodies of interest, with emphasis on the spatial fluctuations of chlorophyll α, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH, observed in Koumoundourou Lake and the rivers Acheloos, Asopos and Kifissos. The effectiveness of an innovative heavy metal (HM) system installed in the USV for the in situ measurements of copper and lead was also evaluated herewith. The results obtained demonstrate the advantages of USVs, setting the base for their application in real-time monitoring of chemical parameters including metals. Simultaneously, the requirements for accuracy and sensitivity improvement of HM sensors were noted, in order to permit full exploitation of USVs' capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manufacturing industry is currently experiencing a shift towards sustainability-driven practices and principles. Company X is one of those who want to improve their competitiveness in the manufacturing industry by implementing sustainability. However, this company experiences obstacles in its production process because production targets still need to be achieved owing to product defects that average 8.97%. This study used the sustainable lean manufacturing approach to help the company to achieve more competitive goals by reducing waste and pollution and creating more efficient production processes. The tools used in this research were process activity mapping (PAM), sustainable value stream mapping (SVSM), and the sustainability index (SI). Based on calculations with sustainability indicators, the company’s SI results amounted to 183%. The proposed improvements were given to improve the company’s efficiency and to reduce its SI. After repairs had been made, the SI value was reduced to 118%. With the improvement in that value, production efficiency has also improved: the process cycle efficiency (PCE) value has become 90.49%, which means that the company’s production process has become more efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]